The 6 Freedoms of the First Amendment are
1. From religion, 2. Of religion;
3. Of speech, 4. Of the press;
5. Of assembly 6. To petition
Each freedom does not stand alone, in fact they all involve advocating personal beliefs and ideas. Although the freedom's progress from an inner voice to an outer voice, what good would the freedom of speech be if you could not assemble and share those beliefs with other people? In law, the structure of words are significant. They all depend on each other, the clauses together are more powerful which is what makes the First Amendment so important. Our founding fathers constructed the amendments in the hopes of protecting the future. It’s truly amazing to see how something that was created centuries ago continues to be the backbone of our nation and play a pivotal role in current events.
2020 has been the year of chaos ranging from a global pandemic to global protests. Throughout the history of the United States, protests have played a vital role in preserving justice. Dating back to the 1700’s, some famous protests are The Boston Tea Party, The Women’s Suffrage Parade, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and most recently the Black Lives Matter Protests. With every protest comes a major change in American history. Without our freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom to petition, protests would be nearly impossible. The First Amendment protects us when participating in activism, however violence is not protected.
to read more on how to get involved around activism.
As we’ve seen throughout history, assembly promotes change. The BLM Protests are protesting racism and have expanded from a national level to a global level. Their national marches have brought attention to injustices. Furthermore, using our speech to assemble and petition promotes change because it spreads awareness of the issue, fosters thinking about the issue, which then hopefully convinces others to join their cause and solve the issue. Protests show the government how important the issue is to the people.
See https://www.adl.org/education/resources/tools-and-strategies/the-purpose-and-power-of-protest to read more on the purpose and power of protesting.
The First Amendment was and continues to be active throughout the Coronavirus, both by citizens and the media. Small businesses have suffered tremendously which have significantly changed livelihoods. People from across the country were and still are using embracing their first amendment rights by protesting in an effort to re-open businesses.
See this article by BBC News to learn more about protests to re-open the economy that was shut down due to Covid-19
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52348288
THOUGHTS
Are our First Amendment rights being violated when the press chooses to share or hide certain information?
After reflecting on this question, I’ve come to the consensus that throughout broadcasting of the covid-19, the media, whether it be news channels like CNN, FOX, or apps like instagram and snapchat, the media was consumed with negativity, instilling fear in the population. In all of the reports of deaths involving the coronavirus, where were the stories of survival?
The Press should publish all different perspectives, and rather than instill fear, instill hope, because that is what this country needs.
Comments
Post a Comment